Never say Never
by wildcat135
Summary: Sam Stratus was the best. She had it ripped away and had to live with the humilation of being told she would never have it back. But she's not used to doing what she's told.
1. Chapter 1

The crowd was roaring with approval. Sam Stratus was on the brink of her fifth title reign as women's champion and the packed out arena knew what was coming. The feisty brunette played up to the crowd as her rival slowly staggered back to her feet. Sam turned her attention back to the matter at hand and focussed on the blondes head.

Trish straightened up and turned around; she walked straight into Sam's arms who twisted ran up the ropes and flipped over smashing her head into the canvass of the ring. Cats Cradle one of the deadliest moves in the WWE. The crowd was ravenous for the pin count. Nobody ever kicked out of cats cradle wherever they were the run of the mill diva or any wrestler that got on her bad side.

The pin count. The screaming. The adrenaline. For several minutes Sam simply gazed in amazement. She'd done it again; picked up the women's championship for the fifth time in two years. The dirt sheets were calling her the greatest wrestler of all time. She was constantly involved in the main event story lines. Her current rivalry with her biological sister Trish was the most intense the world of women's wrestling had ever seen thanks to the realistic tragic back-story. She had fought alongside the best, been a part of the most influential factions, managed Shawn Michaels her idol and had blown the WWE and their image of women in the business to smithereens.

The boys in the back loved her and accepted her, the legends admired the tenacity she brought to everything and indulged her requests for stories, the girls loved working with her as she made them look good. Vince doted on her; his little discovery he had found working the warehouse of ECW illegally at 15. She had made a place for herself inside the WWE family and the McMahon family having become best friends with the youngest daughter, the rebellious Elizabeth.

Sam Stratus was at the top of her game.

One week later Sam Stratus was lying in a hospital bed.

One week later Sam Stratus was told she would never be able to have children.

One week later Sam Stratus was told she would never wrestle again.

One week later Sam Stratus was told she would never walk again.

One week and one day later Sam Stratus celebrated her 19th birthday.


	2. Chapter 2

Two Years Later.

The crowd was roaring its disapproval. Elizabeth McMahon was being dragged around the ring and beaten down by three different women. She had just lost the women's championship to Trish Stratus and now Trish and her cronies were slowly ripping her to shreds. This was wrestlemania the greatest stage of them all and the youngest, rebellious McMahon the fan favourite was being ripped to shreds on her daddy's creation. Behind the curtain Vince stood at a monitor watching, waiting for the perfect moment.

He had a smile on his face, quite perverse when you consider the situation involved his youngest daughter taking a hell of a beating; but he always had enjoyed moments like this where he got to play the crowd. No one knew what was coming. The announcers were in the dark, the boys and girls in the back were in the dark, not even the girls currently in the ring knew what was about to happen, not even Elizabeth.

The tech guys that ran pyro, lighting, entrance music etc were all fairly confused. They had access to every superstar that had ever been on the roster's music. They were on standby. The guys who operated the TV camera's out on the floor were on standby. The referee was on standby. Everyone knew something was going down. No one knew what.

Vince was stood close to the curtain his hand on the television monitor. He glanced into the shadows briefly.

"Are you ready?"

A light voice, trembling slightly with nerves answered him.

"Not really, but I'm going anyway."

Vince smiled in response his eyes not leaving the screen. It was time.

"Ok lets go." He called out and everyone in hearing stood to attention.

Sam Stratus walked out of the shadows.

The entire area fell silent. Vince grinned.

"Ok lets move people. Hit her music now!" He instructed and giving Sam one last smile of support he stood to one side leaving her entrance to the curtain clear.

This was it. The big comeback; she'd worked so hard, blood sweat and tears were nothing compared to how much she'd put into this. Her very soul was out there waiting for her to come and get it.

Brushing the long brown hair back off her head she checked her appearance. Anything to delay the moment just a few seconds more. Tight wrestling tights, a black vest top, her wrestling boots, and the long coat she always used to wear.

What if they didn't remember her? What if her music hit and they all just went ummm?

What if she got hurt out there? What if she ended up back in the chair?

Her music hit.

The crowd roared.

And she stopped asking what if….


	3. Chapter 3

She remained on the stage for just a few minutes. Staring out at the crowd; feeling her heart beat; feeling alive for the first time in two years. And every breath she took felt like a reminder of the life she thought she had lost.

_The wheels squeaked. It seemed like no matter what she did; no matter how much oil was used or how many new wheels or for that matter new chairs were brought the wheels always squeaked. She had begun to suspect that it was all psychological; no one else ever mentioned it but they all seemed to be indulging her when they oiled the chair or replaced the wheels. _

It had been the longest hardest fight of her life to get back here and after everything the moment felt ten times as sweet. As she charged the ring and effectively cleared it in a few minutes relying on her instincts to carry her through; she hadn't dared to practice in this ring through fear that someone would have seen her. A smile crossed her face as she thought of the second family she had sat in the back probably staring at the television monitors with open mouths.

_It had a destabilising effect on her. Official suicide watch at the hospital; unofficial suicide watch two months later when she was released. Feeling as if the world had completely screwed her over Sam lost the life loving attitude that kept her going and set her apart in the highly competitive world of wrestling. Essentially it was more than her body that was broken. _

The three girls she'd cleared from the ring fell to the side to regroup and Sam dropped down to check on Elizabeth.

"Hey Liz, how's it going?"

The beaten down McMahon pushed back her hair and looked up at her best friend; taking a few deep breaths she looked confused and surprised but that soon slipped and she grinned up at her.

"Don't know why I'm surprised really…this is very you." She giggled slightly as she wrapped her arms around Sam's neck and let herself be lifted up and into a standing hug with her best friend. The first one they'd shared for two years.

"_Sam I know thing are rough but you need to come back to us. I need by best friend back I cant do this without you." Elizabeth sobbed as she grasped Sam's lifeless hand staring up at her friend's expressionless face. Eyes open she was simply staring off into the middle of nowhere. The hospital room was full of WWE superstars all members of her extended family. Chris Irvine, Jericho to the general public her older brother; not by blood but she had been an Irvine since she was 6 moved in and took Liz by the shoulders pulling her gently away from Sam's body. Drake Bryson; her brothers best friend leant down next to her and brushed a lock of hair back._

"_You're better than this Stratus." _

A wrestlemania comeback for a woman wrestler was unheard of. On a night when anything can happen and generally does the crowd were always willing to suspend their belief. So when Sam Stratus strutted back into the wrestling world they fell in love with her all over again in a matter of seconds. As Sam Stratus and Liz McMahon squared up against Trish Stratus, Grace Adams and Victoria in a spontaneous match no one questioned the general practicalities of its occurrence; they were simply happy to get carried away in the magic.

"_I want to thank you all for your support in the time. It means more to me than you will ever know. After only two years in this business I feel I've been in receipt of more happiness than I deserve. Know that every time I walked through the curtain I gave each and every one of you everything I had. Whether you loved me or hated me in the ring I thank you for making my dreams come true if only for a short time. The doctors tell me I'll never walk again so my career is over. I wanted to be the one to tell you this; to explain how the physical pain that I'm in is nothing compared to the emotional hurt I feel when I think that I'll never step back in the ring. So thank you for your support. Thank you to the McMahon family for giving me that shot and for believing in some scrawny 16 year old kid. Thank you to all of the guys and girls in the back. Thank you. I'm done, I'm finished. Keep on rocking Raw." _

_She cried as she spoke. The camera panned out to members of the audience in tears, to the guys in the back staring at the monitors. Everyone fighting back tears. _

_A camera shot of Jeff Hardy; doubled over in grief carrying responsibility on his shoulders. A camera shot of the legends that had looked out for her. A camera shot of Jericho her older brother pained by his inability to stop his kid sister feeling pain. A camera shot of Drake with Edge and Christian all of them emotionally drained. _

The match was quick. Wrestlemania had a very strict time schedule; Sam hit the Cats Cradle on Trish and picked up the pin fall. The crowd went wild. The two girls hugged tightly and just as they were climbing out of the ring several more figures appeared on the runway. Sam overcome with emotion, crying with happiness climbed out of the ring and ran into her big brothers arms.

Shawn Michaels; her idol, her mentor, Triple H, Matt Hardy, Edge, Christian, Drake, Vince himself. All ideals of face and heel were ignored for just a few moments as the WWE family welcomed Sam Stratus home.

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who takes the time to read this and especially those that review. Reviews are my main motivation to keep on writing this after all..... **


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